Italian Andrea Venzon, French Colombe Cahen-Salvador and German Damian Boeselager founded Volt Europa in 2017 as a counterpart to the rising nationalism and right-wing populism in Europe.

[10] At the municipal level, Volt Germany is part of the city governments of Munich,[11] Cologne,[12] Frankfurt am Main,[13] Münster and Wiesbaden[14] among others.

In 2016, Andrea Venzon from Italy, Colombe Cahen-Salvador from France and Damian Boeselager from Germany were living and studying in the United States.

Dismayed by the shift to the right and rising nationalism in Europe and the US, culminating in the Brexit referendum and Trump's election, among other things, they decided to found a European citizens' movement.

[30] Volt sees the European Union (EU) as the most successful intergovernmental project since the Second World War, enabling Europe's citizens to live in peace, freedom and prosperity.

At the same time, Volt believes that the often outdated, entrenched political structures of the EU are increasingly reaching their limits when facing current and future challenges.

Volt is convinced that these challenges cannot be met effectively by addressing them alone and at a national level, but only with stronger integration and more European democracy.

[32] Volt calls for an EU of and by its citizens with reformed electoral law and more participation, in which the directly elected parliament and not individual heads of state and government decide the common future.

[31] Volt's goal is a European federal republic that should be able to meet current challenges – from climate change to mobility transformation and digitalisation, to social inequality.

To this end, destigmatized and appropriate social security systems that enable people to participate in society and plan their individual lives are to be created.

[31] According to Volt, the labour market is too bureaucratic, contains unclear legal regulations, sets the wrong incentives and lacks protection.

[37] The party is against discrimination of any kind and calls for direct support for those affected, inclusion of people with disabilities and plans to combat racism and antisemitism.

[31] In Volt's view, states should use the technological possibilities of our time to update public services in areas such as education, health care, and the judiciary.

[32] Party researcher Uwe Jun of the University of Trier assigns Volt to the left-liberal spectrum: "Above all conservative positions are missing.

[39] Professor Dorothea de Nève, a political scientist at the University of Giessen, attests that Volt appeals in particular to a younger and educated electorate to whom Europe is important.

[39] However, the party does not only want to appeal to a young, urban and educated clientele, but underpins its ambitions to reach as broad a spectrum of people as possible with its programs.

[40] With its pragmatic and evidence-based approach, Volt also appeals to people who are less concerned with arguing about ideologies and criticize the lack of effectiveness of politics in dealing with crises, according to Professor Thomas Zittel of Goethe University in Frankfurt.

[16] Volt Germany's federal executive committee, elected in 2019, currently consists of a dual leadership with Friederike Schier and Paul Loeper, four vice-chairpeople (Caroline Flohr, Sophie Griesbacher, Paulo Alexandre, Konstantin Feist) and treasurer Leo Lüddecke.

[44] At the December Party Congress 2021, Rebekka Müller and Connor Geiger  [de] were elected as the new designated chairpeople with four vice-chairpeople (Carina Beckmann, Jennifer Scharpenberg, Maximilian Ochs, Jens Többen).

[49] This consisted of 16.5% from membership fees, 60% from donations from natural persons, 11.3% from legal entities as well as 12.2% from events, distribution of printed material and publications and other income-related activity.

[50] Membership fees accounted for 14.1%, 62.2% from donations from individuals, 7.1% from legal entities and 7.3% from income from events, distribution of printed matter and publications and other income-related activities.

30.9% were donations from individuals, 3% from legal entities, 0.7% from contributions from elected representatives, 0.6% from income from events, distribution of printed material and publications and other income-related activities.

[53][52] Volt Germany is organized nationwide in numerous local teams which, with the exception of a few spun-off district associations, do not form legally independent organizational units.